A sign identifying Auburn University on the university's campus on August 14, 2023 in Auburn, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
A former landscaping supervisor at Auburn University filed a lawsuit against the school Tuesday, alleging the university fired him over social media posts related to the shooting of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk.
It is the second such lawsuit filed this month, following the university’s decision in September to fire an unspecified number of employees over social media posts related to Kirk.
The lawsuit says that Kevin Courtwright, a former landscape supervisor who shared a Facebook post critical of Kirk, made comments that were “insensitive, offensive and inflammatory” but added that “that means they were exactly the type of speech the First Amendment protects.”
A spokesperson for Auburn University Thursday declined comment, citing a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
The complaint names Auburn University President Christopher Roberts; Jim Carroll, vice president of facilities management for the university, and Loren Winn, the facilities human resources director for the school as defendants.
Following Kirk’s death on Sept. 10, Courtwright reposted a post on Facebook that condemned Kirk.
“So, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at one of his events. The man who said that school shootings were just something worth living with in order to keep the 2nd amendment, who leaned into every single culture war issue to push hate and division, and who was making absurd claims about trans people being mass shooters at the time he was [Redacted], is likely going to be used for some justification to crack down on something by this regime,” the post said.
According to the lawsuit, after sharing the post, Courtwright posted “One fascist down; a whole socio-political movement go. FAFO nazi trash” to his Facebook page.
The complaint also said Courtwright reshared several other posts that condemned gun violence and Kirk’s death.
“No one should be shot, Charlie Kirk included. But let’s be real: Republican leaders crying crocodile tears about gun violence while BLOCKING every piece of gun reform are the reason it keeps happening. DOING NOTHING is the choice THEY have made,” said one of the posts shared by Courtwright.
On Sept. 15, the lawsuit said Courtwright’s wife, who is also an Auburn employee, was approached by Chris Hardman, a coordinator for behavioral threat assessment and management and Scott Forehand, director of compliance, investigations and security, to question her about her husband.
The complaint said Hardman and Forehand told Courtwright’s wife that a student filed a complaint about the Facebook posts and asked her what Courtwright would do if he “came upon a tabling event for Turning Point USA” on campus.
Turning Point USA is a non-profit organization founded by Kirk that advocates for conservative politics on high school, college and university campuses.
Courtwright alleges that after his wife was questioned, he was summoned by the facilities human resources office to speak with Clarence Stewart from Auburn’s security and compliance team.
During the meeting with Stewart, Courtwright said he was told that a complaint was made about his Facebook post and was questioned on if the post had any violent intent.
On Sept. 16, the lawsuit said Courtwright met with Winn to explain to her that there was a misunderstanding of his post. After explaining, he asked Winn if he would be fired.
Courtwright alleges that Winn told him that “Auburn tends not to move drastically, and she was inclined to think he would not be fired, but there was a chance.”
After his meeting with Winn, the complaint said Stewart called Courtwright to tell him to make his Facebook page private so others couldn’t view it, and to take down the posts about Kirk for “damage control,” which Courtwright said he did.
The following day, Courtwright said he was pulled for another meeting where Winn, Stewart and Carroll were waiting for him. During the meeting, he was allegedly told that he violated University Code 8.3.3 and was placed on administrative leave.
The code includes:
- “Intimidating or intentionally imposing on the rights and privileges of other employees”
- “Engaging in grossly offensive, obscene, or immoral conduct”
- “Any actions deemed by the University as constituting major misconduct.”
That same day, Roberts posted a statement on social media that multiple employees were fired for their social media posts. The university did not give a specific number of employees that were terminated.
On Sept. 22, Courtwright said he was fired from the university and the following day he received a letter stating that he was terminated.
“After a thorough review of all relevant information, it has been determined that your actions are in direct violation of Auburn University’s Personnel Policies and Procedures (Group I offenses),” the letter Courtwright got said. “Group I violations include conduct regarded as major misconduct, behavior that is grossly offensive or immoral, and a gross disregard of obligations to the University.”
The lawsuit also cites a comment by Roberts reported by the Auburn Plainsman, the university’s student newspaper, that he regretted parts of his statement that “caused confusion over ‘offensive speech vs threatening speech.’”
The complaint argues that Courtwright’s posts weren’t threatening and that his posts had no impact on how he did his job.
“However ill-considered [the] defendant[s] perceived [Courtwright’s] comments to be, his comments did not render him unfit for his job as a Landscape Supervisor,” the complaint said.
Earlier this month, Candice Hale, a former lecturer at Auburn, said she was fired for sharing her thoughts on Kirk’s death on Facebook.
Hale said in her complaint that she was also questioned by Hardman and Forehand about her post and “how students who were in the University’s Turning Point USA chapter would feel about her comments.”
She said she was not aware that the university had a Turning Point chapter.
On Sept. 24, after having another meeting with other Auburn officials, Hale said she was summoned for another meeting where she was told the school wanted to end her employment and gave her 21 days to consider a severance agreement.
From Alabama Reflector Post Url: Visit
Author: Andrea Tinker